Hunger Games’ director feels bad about his 45-minute song pitch for Olivia Rodrigo

‘Can’t Catch Me Now’, the original song that Olivia Rodrigo co-wrote and performed for the soundtrack of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakesfollows in a great tradition.

The films in this series feature iconic tie-in songs, from The hunger Games‘ Arcade Fire anthem “Abraham’s Daughter” and the popular Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars collaborative piece “Safe and Sound” Unpleasant Lorde’s Chilling “Yellow Flicker Beat” in Mockingjay – Part 1. The Hunger Games series soundtrack is full of bangers. Although the series is action-packed and set in a dystopian future, singer-songwriter music plays a large role in shaping the world of Panem, especially District 12’s Appalachian roots.

For this particular film, music was even more important than usual. The ballad of songbirds and snakes follows a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) as he mentors District 12 tribute and singer Lucy Gray Baird (West Side Storyby Rachel Zegler). Much of the plot is driven by Lucy Gray’s natural showmanship and her captivating songs, and the film’s third act makes clear the impact music has on the entire Hunger Games world, past and present.

(Ed. remark: Spoilers for a key moment at the end of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.)

Of course, director Francis Lawrence, who returns to the Hunger Games franchise after his work Catching fire and the Mockingjay movies, had a lot of thoughts about what the end credits song should sound like and how it should reflect the story. So many thoughts, in fact, that when Lawrence got together with Rodrigo after seeing the film to talk about the collaboration, he sheepishly said he ranted to her a bit about what he wanted to get out of her song.

“I remember talking a little bit bee hair for 45 minutes,” Lawrence tells Polygon. “About the movie and about the themes and about the ending, and the mystery at the end, and how I thought the song needed to be a little bit haunting, and what it could do for us narratively with the lyrics. She took some notes.”

Lawrence didn’t know how the song would end, and he felt a little guilty as he droned on, “I just talked to her for an hour!” But when he heard the results, Lawrence realized he had nothing to worry about. “Can’t Catch Me Now” is as haunting and enchanting as Lawrence wished: a sung epilogue to the story of Lucy Gray. At the end of the film, Lucy Gray disappears, seemingly into thin air. Coriolanus searches for her and slams his fists on the ground when he realizes that she has abandoned him. But even though she is physically gone, her presence lingers. You’ll see my face everywhere, but you can’t catch me nowRodrigo sings, and it’s as if Lucy Gray’s voice is echoing in Snow’s head.

The mystery of what exactly happened to Lucy Gray remains unanswered Songbirds and snakes, or even really addressed in the original Hunger Games books and films set after her time. But Rodrigo’s song emphasizes that her memory lingers. It haunts Snow and everything that happens in the main series.

Ballad of songbirds and snakes is in theaters now. Watch the official video for “Can’t Catch Me Now” below.